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The Emergency Management Network · Aug 18, 2026

Hawaii recovery deepens after Hurricane Lala with one death and tens of thousands still dark; Indiana readies major disaster request after seven deaths

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Brian Colburn · The Emergency Management Network

Hawaii Island enters a second week of recovery from Hurricane Lala with one confirmed death, roughly 88,000 customers still without power statewide, and Pahala cut off by a destroyed section of Highway 11 with no water or sewer service. Indiana counts at least seven dead and more than a thousand displaced as the state finalizes a major disaster declaration request and activates relief grants and replacement food benefits. The national wildfire preparedness level holds at 5 with 80 uncontained large fires and evacuations running in Washington, Oregon, Utah, Montana and New Mexico. Also in this episode: a new CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities entry, a St. Louis boil water advisory tied to storm-driven pressure loss, municipal cyber incidents in Maine and Arkansas, Extreme Heat Warnings in the desert Southwest and the coastal Carolinas, and a two-week countdown on Wisconsin’s FEMA application deadline. EM Morning Brief is your concise daily update on national and state-by-state emergency management news. Produced by Sitch Radio, an EOC Voices podcast.

Hawaii lifeline restoration is the national priority. One confirmed death, roughly 88,670 customers without power Monday evening, and Pahala without power, water or sewer. Highway 11 is severed south toward Naalehu, and about 100 mainland mutual aid crew members arrive midweek.

Indiana federal aid is pending, not approved. A presidential emergency declaration covers 53 counties for emergency protective measures at 75 percent federal cost share, but individual assistance requires the major disaster declaration the state has not yet filed. State grants of up to $5,000 and replacement SNAP benefits are available now through 211 and the FSSA portal.

Wildfire remains at National Preparedness Level 5. Eighty uncontained large fires, 28,710 personnel assigned, and year-to-date acreage at roughly 169 percent of the ten-year average. Sand Creek in Montana is at 1 percent containment on 31,652 acres.

Active evacuation drivers to watch: Little Giant in Washington, Hagen and Paradise in Oregon, Black Canyon in Utah, Sand Creek, Bobcat Lakes and Moose in Montana, and Frijoles in New Mexico.

Two water systems are degraded. St. Louis is under a precautionary boil water advisory across 27 neighborhoods after storm-driven pressure loss at the Chain of Rocks plant, and West Columbia, South Carolina is under a boil advisory after a main break.

Municipal cyber pressure continues. Lincoln, Maine reopened Tuesday with limited services after file encryption, and Fort Smith, Arkansas is still restoring city systems. Both jurisdictions report 911 and emergency response unaffected.

One new CISA KEV entry. A code injection flaw in the Ray distributed computing framework was added Monday with remediation due this week. No NTAS bulletin is currently in effect.

Deadline watch. Wisconsin FEMA individual assistance and SBA physical disaster loan applications close Monday, August 31 for 19 counties plus the Oneida Nation. Mississippi opens five Disaster Service Centers at noon today.

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NIFC National Fire News: daily national wildfire situation, preparedness level, and large fire table

NIFC Incident Management Situation Report: Aug 17, 2026 national situation report

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities addition: Aug 17, 2026 catalog update

CISA Cybersecurity Alerts and Advisories: current advisory listing

DHS National Terrorism Advisory System: no current advisories in effect

FDA recall, Hardie’s Fresh Foods jalapeños: Salmonella risk, posted Aug 17

FDA recall, Oma’s Pride raw pet food: Salmonella, updated Aug 17, eleven states

National Hurricane Center: Atlantic and Eastern Pacific tropical outlooks

Hurricane Lala Public Advisory 24: Central Pacific, Aug 17, 11 p.m. HST

WPC Excessive Rainfall Outlook: Day 1 flash flood risk areas

Storm Prediction Center: Day 1 convective outlook

USGS M4.5+ earthquakes, past day: Karluk, Alaska event

Alaska Volcano Observatory daily update: Great Sitkin, Kupreanof, Shishaldin

NOAA Tsunami Warning Centers: no warnings, advisories or watches in effect

NWS Phoenix Extreme Heat Warning: issued Aug 18, in effect through Aug 21

Maricopa County Heat Relief Network: cooling, respite and hydration sites

City of Fort Smith: municipal network security event and service impacts

Fort Smith network security event: reported service disruptions

CAL FIRE Sorrento Fire: San Diego incident page, acreage and evacuations

CAL FIRE active incidents: statewide fire summary

Hawaiian Electric restoration update: outage counts by island, Aug 17

Hawaii Emergency Management Agency: Hurricane Lala updates hub

Governor’s emergency proclamation: signed ahead of the storm

Hawaii County Civil Defense shelter dashboard: open shelter locations

Storm fatality and statewide impacts: Associated Press coverage

Pahala water, power and Highway 11 status: Hawaii News Now

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory: magnitude 4.1 earthquake information statement

USGS Kilauea daily update: Advisory status and episode 54 forecast

Indiana flood response and disaster declaration request: Governor Braun and IDHS briefing

Indiana emergency aid and temporary housing grants: Indiana Capital Chronicle

Indiana Department of Homeland Security: agency newsroom

Town of Lincoln reopening notice: limited services Tuesday, Aug 18

Town of Lincoln cybersecurity incident notice: encrypted files on municipal network

Superior National Forest: Boundary Waters wildfire area closures and fire danger

MEMA Disaster Service Centers: five centers open noon Aug 18 for DR 4930 MS

St. Louis Water Division boil water advisory: North City, South City and Midtown

St. Louis Water Division alerts: current advisory status

Santa Fe National Forest Frijoles Fire update: acreage, evacuations and closures

InciWeb Frijoles Fire: incident page

Umatilla National Forest fires update: Hagen and Paradise fire operations

Umatilla County Emergency Management: evacuation advisories and road closures

NWS Red Flag Warnings: national active fire weather warning list

West Columbia boil water advisory: issued Aug 17 after water main break

NWS Wilmington Extreme Heat Warning: issued Aug 18, in effect through 8 p.m.

UTSA cybersecurity incident: systems taken offline after intrusion attempt

JPS Health Network downtime updates: routine operations resumed

Little Giant Fire update: acreage, containment, evacuations and shelter

Chelan County evacuation map: current evacuation levels

West Virginia flooding and emergency declaration status: Fayette County fatality and statewide posture

West Virginia Emergency Management Division: agency news and damage reporting

Wisconsin Emergency Management: two weeks left to apply for FEMA assistance

USGS Northern Mariana Islands volcano update: Ahyi Seamount advisory status

Guam Homeland Security and Office of Civil Defense: current advisories

Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency: current status

Federal Register disaster declarations and assistance: current declaration notices

CDC Health Alert Network: most recent advisory, HAN 532

State Department travel advisories: current advisory levels by country

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